1st World Chemistry Forum at 3rd European Chemistry Partnering

Chemistry makes the World go around! – 97 percent of all products contain at least one chemical process step: renewable raw materials, enzymes, industrial biotechnology, new processes, products from residual materials, digitization, etc. are changing the processes in chemical value creation: starting with purchasing logistics on to production and finally marketing and sales. Interdisciplinary exchange is gaining in importance. At the center of this change: the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs), of the United Nations.

Chemistry is undergoing fundamental change at the beginning of the 21st century. The road leads to higher efficiency, increased sustainability and more environmentally friendly products with more efficient production methods. The associated goals can only be achieved in an interchange across regional, cultural, systemic and cross-disciplinary boundaries in shared cooperation; to master the challenges of food production, global health care, a continuous supply of energy and ever-increasing mobility, to name just a few examples.

The European Chemistry Partnering, ECP, is an event format in which the focus is on discussion about innovation in production along the chemical value chain. It is aimed at decision makers, innovation managers and investors in the chemical industry and its user industries, as well as industry-focused stakeholders and qualified service providers and consultants.

With the 3rd ECP the organizers are taking a first step in the further development of the ECP into a Think Tank for topics related to chemistry and chemical value creation, and invite participants to network and discuss content, to exchange information and experience, and to promote topics related to industry, politics and society in general.

The final panel of 3rd European Chemistry Partnering goes under the title “New Plastics Economy”.The development of new plastics, handling of plastics and the problem of plastic pollution on land and in the sea – as one of the major problems of our time – is in the focus.

These are the five experts:

Panel Discussion “New Plastics Economy”

Friedrich Barth

Managing Director

International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3)

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Every day new data and examples reveal the enormous global challenges humanity is facing: climate change, the growing demand for scarce resources, the plastic pollution of the oceans, just to name a few. Earth’s natural systems are under unprecedented stress. Over 60 percent of ecosystems are depleted while the consumption of natural resources is expected to rise three to six-fold by 2050. Only 9% of the 92.8 billion tonnes of minerals, fossil fuels, metals and biomass that enter the economy are re-used annually. And global use of materials is growing. It has more than tripled since 1970 and could double again by 2050. The Anthropocene, marked by humanity’s impact on the planet, is an era of waste.

To find solutions for the manifold challenges of our times, we need more than a clean and efficient economy. We need transformative ideas to create a circular, ghg-neutral society. Innovative chemical companies have the potential to tackle these challenges and transform products and production processes along the value chain.

By designing solutions which enable a circular economy and climate-resilient societies, chemistry could be a key driver for sustainable development.

Start-ups play a key role in this process. By unleashing the power of creativity, they challenge the existing systems of chemical production and use. But inspiration and entrepreneurship of small companies might not be enough to enable the breakthrough of sustainable chemistry. Better knowledge transfer and global cooperation are crucial to ensure the market success of innovative solutions. At the ISC3 we put together innovators and investors from all world regions with science and policy makers. By linking the different sectors and regions we want to inspire and support tailor-made sustainable solutions which meet the needs of our western societies as well as those of the developing world. Today, I invite you to join the international collaboration of sustainable chemistry change-makers.

Daniella Russo

CEO and Co-founder

Think Beyond Plastic™

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Daniella Russo is the CEO and Co-founder of Think Beyond Plastic, Inc, the leader of a global action to harness the forces of innovation and entrepreneurship to eliminate plastic pollution and to advance the New Plastics Economy.

Think Beyond Plastic leads a multidisciplinary effort to identify and commercialize innovations from each segment of the plastics value chain, and to connect industry and investors to the innovation ecosystem. Of particular focus are bio-benign materials, sustainable chemistry, innovative product delivery systems and recycling innovations.

Daniella Russo believes that intractable environmental challenges can be addressed by harnessing the forces of innovation and entrepreneurship, and the power of the markets to do good. She is a serial entrepreneur. She has started and ran numerous high-tech businesses, and her experience includes executive management from start-up phase through an IPO (such as Frame Technology, Infoseek and others), as well as Fortune-500 companies (Sun Microsystems, and Xerox PARC).

Daniella Russo is a member of the Founders Board of Advisors at StartX Stanford Student Startup Accelerator. She is an Associate Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies Graduate Program in International Policy and Management. She serves on the Board of numerous NGOs and businesses.

Fernando J. Gómez, Ph.D.

Head of Chemistry and Advanced Materials

Industry, World Economic Forum

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Fernando is Head of Chemistry and Advanced Materials at the World Economic Forum, where he oversees the involvement of partners from the chemical and materials industries in the Forum’s programs and activities. Fernando has over a decade of experience in structuring and managing partnerships for technical and regional development, and has performed in areas including technology management, innovation, new product development and corporate venturing. Before joining the Forum in 2010, Fernando was for eight years at AkzoNobel, working in the areas of technical development and venture relations. Fernando holds a Chemistry degree from Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia, a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Florida, and completed his postdoctoral work at Stanford University. His research in polymer chemistry resulted in over 20 journal articles and patents. Fernando is a volunteer advisor to his alma mater and is active in global industrial and scientific societies.

Professor Magnus Nydén

Global Chief Scientist

Nouryon Chemicals Holding B.V.

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Professor Magnus Nydén is a Physical Chemist with a PhD in NMR spectroscopy related to soft materials applications. He later combined physical chemistry, material science and mathematics for solving problems related to industrial materials and processes. Since 2017 he is the Global Chief Scientist at Nouryon and he comes from academic positions as head of department at University College London between 2015-2017, the director of the Ian Wark Research Institute at the University of South Australia between 2012-2015 and before that he was a professor at Chalmers University of technology. He has 10 patents, 160 publications, an H-index of 36 and has started three businesses during his academic career.

Moderation

Prof. Dr. Stephan Haubold

University for Applied Sciences Fresenius

Idstein

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Prof. Dr. Stephan Haubold is dean of studies for business chemistry and MINTrepreneurship® at the University for Applied Sciences Fresenius in Idstein and managing Partner of SDH-Consult in Bonn.

He studied chemistry at the Universities of Karlsruhe and Hamburg and started his own first chemistry business, Nanosolutions, in 2000. He has gained over 18 years of experience as an entrepreneur in the field, and was involved in several Start-ups. He has been a Start-Up coach and consultant for organizational development since 2001 and has been a dedicated lecturer at the university since 2017. In 2018 Prof. Stephan Haubold was member of the expert-panel of the DIN SPEC 91354, “Start-ups – Leitfaden für technologie- und wissensbasierte Gründungen” (Guidelines for technology and knowledge based start-ups).